Far bigger than embarrassment, shame can be private, deep-seated and complex, covering all sides of society, psychology, religious, private or public life, a many-sided identity that can be corrosive but also controlling, useful but also harmful. How does it show in song?
Read moreWhatever next? Songs about distractions, digressions and diversions
Prepare for the unexpected. This week in song, it’s all about moments of divergence, digression, and distraction, of interruption and intervention, leading to the unplanned, whether that be because of oneself, another person, events, or circumstances
Read moreTo infinity and beyond: songs about space flight
After last week's orgasmic theme and playlists, it’s time for thrusting engines over another kind, rockets and space ships, real or fictional, fantastic, wondrous, frightening journeys of all kind, as we boldly go to new musical territory
Read moreLost or found? Songs about paradise
What is yours? From Arcadia to Utopia, how can we create or find it? Where is it, and what does it look like? This week, after previously doing the impossible, we find the unfindable in the form of song, inspired my many books, art and films …
Read moreLetters of note: songs about written correspondence
Love letters to rejection replies, friendship, work or leisure, written correspondence are the preserved leaves of history, revealing human nature in all its states and culture, but how does it come up in songwriting? Reply here …
Read moreGame of Tones? Songs about deceptive appearances
Sex, love relationships, work, politics, and war, appearances all play apart in the game of life, and this week with a huge cast of talent coming to visit the Bar, we discuss and explore the art and topic of false or true in song lyrics
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